Freedom Patents LLC

Freedom Patents LLC has added an Eastern District of Texas case against Lenovo (4:24-cv-00646) to the wave of suits filed last month in the same district, one against each of ASUSTek, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), HP Enterprise (HPE), Hon Hai Precision Industry (Sharp), LG Electronics (LGE), Micro-Star, Razer, Samsung, Sony, and Vantiva. The accused products in this campaign, targeted with the same three former Mitsibushi Electric (MELCO) patents, have been devices (e.g., gateways, MIMO modules, TVs, etc.) that implement MIMO Wi-Fi capabilities.

The last of its cases filed in 2023 winding down, Freedom Patents LLC has filed separate suits against ASUSTek (4:24-cv-00534), Cisco (4:24-cv-00535), Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) (4:24-cv-00543), HP Enterprise (HPE) (4:24-cv-00536), Hon Hai Precision Industry (Sharp) (4:24-cv-00541), LG Electronics (LGE) (4:24-cv-00537), Micro-Star (4:24-cv-00538), Razer (4:24-cv-00539), Samsung (4:24-cv-00540), Sony (4:24-cv-00542), and Vantiva (4:24-cv-00544). Once again targeted, with the same three former Mitsibushi Electric (MELCO) patents, is the provision of devices (e.g., gateways, MIMO modules, TVs, etc.) that implement MIMO Wi-Fi capabilities.

Last month, Freedom Patents LLC began litigating a three-patent family of former Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) patents, suing Acer, Altice (CSC Holdings, Cequel Communications), Charter Communications (Spectrum Gulf Coast), Comcast, DISH Network, and Verizon (Verizon Wireless) in separate Eastern District of Texas complaints. Now, the plaintiff has expanded the campaign, adding additional cases in the same district, one against each of AT&T (4:23-cv-00418), Hisense (4:23-cv-00419), TCL (4:23-cv-00420), TPV Technology (4:23-cv-00422), and Tsinghua Tongfang (4:23-cv-00421), again targeting with the same three patents the provision of devices (e.g., gateways, MIMO modules, and TVs) that implement MIMO Wi-Fi capabilities.

Another of the recent recipients of Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) portfolios has initiated litigation. In a set of Eastern District of Texas complaints, Freedom Patents LLC has accused Acer (4:23-cv-00299), Altice (CSC Holdings, Cequel Communications) (4:23-cv-00300), Charter Communications (Spectrum Gulf Coast) (4:23-cv-00301), Comcast (4:23-cv-00302), DISH Network (4:23-cv-00303), and Verizon (Verizon Wireless) (4:23-cv-00304) of infringing the same family of three former MELCO patents through the provision of a wide array of devices that implement MIMO Wi-Fi capabilities.

Delaware plaintiff NexGen Control Systems LLC has filed its first litigation, suing NXP Semiconductors in two separate Eastern District of Texas complaints, one targeting the provision of various automobile computing products, including the Peripheral Sensor Interface 5 (PSI5) system, FXOS8700CQ series devices, and the MC33789 Airbag System Basis Chip and related inertial sensors (5:23-cv-00022); and the other targeting the provision of various devices such as chipsets, controllers, drivers, and integrated circuits (5:23-cv-00025). All six patents now in suit share a development history, at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO), multiple assigned portfolios of which have spawned recent litigation.

This past quarter, US patents continued to spread among NPEs, including to familiar faces in patent monetization, and while some of those recipients have yet to file any litigation, several did launch new campaigns during Q3, targeting players in the Networking market sector, wireless carriers, e-commerce or software companies, and device makers, among others.